Tender Curiosity
by restive
Summary: The way they meet is anything but ordinary. One shot. Bethyl BFF Week.


**I wanted to thank all of you for favourites/follows/reviews, etc. It is still surprising to me that people actually read what I write, so thank you so much for any feedback! And if you just read it and leave no feedback, thank you anyway! I don't think I'll be able to post a lot for Bethyl BFF Week, but I might as well post something. The idea of this story actually came to me in a dream. I hope you like it, and please, remember to review. Love you guys.**

 **Enjoy.**

The way they meet is anything but ordinary.

Daryl wakes up one morning to find a random cat sitting on his kitchen isle, munching on one of the cookies left there after Carl and Judith's visit last night. His first instinct is to grab the fat black cat and throw it out of the window, but then he notices how clean and neat it is, and that there is a light blue collar around his neck.

He picks it up carefully, worried it will scratch and bite and be as evil as cats can be, but it behaves friendly, and Daryl gives it a soft pet, instantly getting delighted purring in response. He looks at the collar and finds the owner's address. It's just a few doors down, actually.

The girls who opens the door seems nice. She is a new neighbour (moved in a few days ago), and she is one of those people whose age you simply cannot guess. To Daryl she seems as young as an eighteen-year-old.

(Doesn't stop him from noticing how pretty she is though.)

"Thank you so much!" she exclaims, pressing the cat to her chest. "Marnie isn't used to living in a small space. She used to have a whole farm to run around."

"Ain't nothing," Daryl shrugs. "Umm… She ate some cookies, it's weird."

The girl giggles and waves her delicately frail hand at him.

"She loves everything sweet, that's fine. Sorry she stole your food though."

No wonder the cat is so fat. Is that even healthy?

Meanwhile, she lets Marnie jump out of her arms onto the floor, and the cat happily sprints away, disappearing somewhere in the house. The girls tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and puts her hand out.

"I'm Beth."

"Daryl."

"Nice to meet you, Daryl," she says and gives him an oddly nice smile. Like she actually likes him. _Ridiculous, right?_ "Thank you so much for bringing Marnie back."

"Ain't nothing," repeats Daryl and, finding some weird excuse, leaves Beth standing there, leaning against the doorjamb and watching him walk off. At least he thinks she watches him. Because it literally feels like she's burning holes in his back with her stare.

* * *

The next time he sees her feels quite normal. It happens two months later. Well, they do see each other a few times before that because, obviously, they live on the same street. Although, the fact that she waves at him friendly every time she notices him is still oddly confusing and somewhat unsettling. Marnie doesn't seem like a real domestic cat at all, and a couple of times Daryl looks out his living room window and finds her sitting on his mailbox (she seems to like that particular spot for some reason), swishing her black fluffy tail. Daryl doesn't do anything about it though. The cat doesn't bother him, so he leaves her be, and she keeps returning.

This time he sees Beth for a completely different reason. It's just another weekday, he is back from work and watching TV with a bottle of beer in his hand. Someone knocks on his door, and he gets up to answer it. He opens the door, and there she is – standing on his porch in her white sundress, smiling so brightly he feels like he needs sunglasses – and when she does that thing again, tucking away a strand of hair with her left hand, he notices a ring with a huge chunky diamond on her delicate finger. Nothing surprising – apart from the fact that someone would be engaged at such a young age (how old is she anyway?) – but he can't help but stand there and stare at her, astounded. She answers his silent question by showing him a few letters.

"I got these this morning, by mistake," she says and raises her elegant eyebrows. "You're 321, and I'm 312, they must've gotten it wrong." Daryl looks down at the letters. She is right, his name is on the envelops. "Here."

He takes his mail and thanks her. With that, she walks off, leaving Daryl thinking about her. And then, thinking about why he is thinking about her in the first place.

* * *

They don't talk much after that. (Not that they've been talking at all.) She smiles every time she sees him on the street, and he offers her a nod. They behave neighbourly, but it doesn't go past the point of short but recurring polite interactions. One day, everything changes.

There is parents' evening at Carl's school, so both Rick and Lori have to go. Judith seems to be in that stage when she has virtually no attention span and anything boring quite literally makes her cry. So Rick calls Daryl the day before and heartedly asks (almost begs) to babysit Judith. He promises it won't take longer than three hours, and Lori is suspicious of any babysitters, so he is the only one they can trust to look after their daughter.

Daryl complains and grumbles, but agrees.

So that puts him here. Holding Judith in his arms, with the baby wiggling and crying so loud he starts getting an explosive headache. He has no idea what to do. Her diaper is dry, he has just given her baby formula half hour ago, so he just keeps circling the kitchen, hoping for a solution to appear.

And it does. Surprisingly, but still.

Right at that moment, there is a knock on the door, and it's Beth again. Judith goes quiet, looking at the girl with curiosity and holding her hands out to her, as if trying to reach her face. At first, Beth is exuding worry, but when she sees the baby reaching out to her, she seems to forget about it for a moment. She giggles a little and lets Judith grab her forefinger. Judith is quiet, and just because of that, Daryl feels like he already loves Beth. Well, not _loves_. But he can't remember the last time he has been so happy to see a person before.

"Hi," Beth smiles at him. "Such a sweet baby you've got here."

"Yeah," Daryl frowns. Not sweet to him. For sure. "Is everything alright?" Daryl asks and notices her frown slightly.

"Sorry to bother you again, but did you happen to see Marnie? She disappeared this morning, and that happens a lot, but she usually comes back at some point during the day…" she mumbles in an adorably awkward way. She gestures a lot, and Daryl can't stop looking at her third finger. The ring on it probably weighs more than Beth herself.

"If she's not on the mailbox, then I would check the backyard. She sneaks in there sometimes," Daryl shrugs when Beth blushes at that. It's not her fault her cat seems to like his house. Quite _weird_ , but still _._ Not her fault.

Daryl gestures to the backdoor in the kitchen, and Beth disappears into the backyard. She is gone for a minute, but even that is enough for Judith to start crying again. Loud and hysteric. Poor baby's face goes so red Daryl thinks it might actually explode. The pounding headache returns immediately.

Naturally, Judith goes completely silent the second Beth comes back in, holding her cat, Marnie swishing her tail in frustration.

"She's been hiding in a bush. Probably hunting something."

Daryl listens to what Beth is saying absentmindedly and turns his head to look at the baby in his arms. Judith is completely calm now, and if not for her tear-stained and red cheeks, Daryl would actually think he was hallucinating a few moments ago.

"Sorry for my cat feeling a little… at home," Beth shrugs and pout a little. "I should go." She spins away to leave, but Daryl stops her.

"Wait," he says, and when she turns to look at him, he feels like a complete idiot. This is going to sound so weird. "Would you mind… staying for a bit? Judith doesn't cry when you're around, and it's been a long day."

Beth lets out a small giggle. "I mean… Sure, I'll just take Marnie-"

"No, let her stay," Daryl says, desperate to just keep Beth here. Keep his house quiet. Keep his headache away. "She likes it here anyway, doesn't she?"

"Okay," Beth shrugs and sets the cat on the floor. "Do you need help with Judith then? I'm quite good with babies."

She does appear to be ridiculously good at handling babies. Because Judith doesn't cry once for the rest of the evening.

* * *

That day changes a lot between them – they become friends. Not the kind of friends who go clubbing together and invite one another to birthday parties, but the kind of friends who listen to each other and always offer valuable advice. Beth and Marnie become frequent guests in Daryl's house; the cat seems to spend more time in Daryl's backyard than in Beth's. Daryl has no idea why, but Marnie seems to like him too, always purring when he picks her up and curling up next to him on the sofa from time to time.

Beth showing up at his place after work to take her cat home becomes a tradition.

So they have share dinners, watch television together, Beth tells him about her fiancé Jimmy, and how good and loving he is to her, and how she is going to be the happiest woman when they marry next summer. She says they don't live together yet because they are both saving up for a big house. Daryl doesn't point out that he's known Beth for a few months now but not once had he seen the couple together. Their relationship is none of his business, so he keeps his mouth shut.

Eventually, they get so close that Daryl confides in her too. He tells her about what dickhead of a father he had, about his mother's suicide, about his brother who can't seems to put his life together. One day he even shows her his scars. At that point, he knows Beth is not going to judge or pity him. She will just _understand_. Because she's Beth.

And then, she wakes him at one in the morning, knocking on his door, and when Daryl lets her in, the wounded look on her face makes his heart ache. He almost winces at that feeling but doesn't say anything and just shuts the door behind her. She sits down on the couch, and he follows, taking a seat next to her. Beth's shoulders slouch as if there is something pressing on them, but Daryl still doesn't ask anything. Obviously, something happened, but he decides to just wait. Beth will talk when she's ready.

"I broke up with Jimmy," she states plainly, and it's only now that Daryl notices that posh ring missing from her finger. Beth's eyes follow his. "I threw it in his face."

He must have done something serious, then. Beth is not the kind of person to get outraged without a good reason.

She seems to read his mind.

"He cheated on me," Beth turns her head to look at Daryl, and her eyes seem glassy. She's been crying. "Well, rather, _he's been cheating_ on me," she corrects herself.

"How long?" Daryl asks, and his voice sounds raspy. Probably because of his heart clenching uncontrollably at the sight of her tears threatening to spill.

"Two months," she starts crying softly, and something jerks painfully in his chest at that. "Why wasn't I enough?" Beth asks. The question sounds somewhat rhetoric, but Daryl tries to think of something to answer anyway. What can he tell her? That she's the most beautiful and caring and kind girl he's ever met, and any guy would be lucky to be with her, and that asshat Jimmy is just a moron if he thinks he can find someone better than her? Daryl doesn't know how much of that he is _allowed_ to say. They are just friends, after all.

But when Beth snuggles up into his chest, sobbing hard, he thinks _fuck that_. He kisses her smooth hair and hugs her back.

"He's just an idiot, Beth," he grunts, unable to remember when was the last time he was so confident in his words. Also, silently wishing he could beat the crap out of that bastard. But he knows Beth will never let him do that.

Beth's sobs get louder, but he doesn't let her go. He breathes in the smell of her hair, kisses the top of her head, and just holds her close, hoping his presence is enough to make her feel at least a tiny little bit better.

* * *

Two months later, they are sitting on his porch steps. It's raining hard, but they are protected by canopy, so they just sit there, relaxing and sipping Beth's special hot chocolate. She actually said her mother taught her this recipe. Frankly, it is the best hot chocolate Daryl has ever tasted.

"I don't think I loved him that much," Beth suddenly says, adjusting the cardigan over her shoulders.

"Huh?"

"Jimmy. It wasn't _really_ love. More of a… _tender curiosity_."

Daryl grunts in response, and that tells Beth she can keep talking.

"I mean… We used to be high school sweethearts. Our engagement was everyone's expectation. I feel like I just… went along with it."

Daryl looks at her – or, rather, _stares_ – and she just smiles and shrugs. And when she smiles, Daryl can't look at anything but her lips. How pink and rosy and pretty they are. How much he wants to kiss them, find out what they taste like.

"I want something _real_ now," Beth whispers, and Daryl realises she is looking at him. And there is something in her eyes that he can't identify. Her gaze falls down and she looks at his lips too. Suddenly, Daryl feels terrified. Too terrified to take an obvious hint. So Beth does it herself, and when their lips meet, he feels like his heart actually explodes in his chest. All he knows is that there is nothing more important to him in the world than this moment and Beth and her lips that taste like candy floss.

 **The title is taken from _The Great Gatsby_ by F Scott Fitzgerald. _"I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity."_**

 **Thank you so much for reading, and please tell me what you think!**


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